Joe Napsha stories, Page 23

While Mark A. Smail had the responsibility of operating the family’s successful automotive dealerships east of Greensburg, he also made it a priority to spend quality time with his family and enjoy life. Smail enjoyed boating in the Florida Keys in the summer, going to the family’s lodge in Ontario’s...

Travis Bayne of New Kensington was focused on cutting a cylinder-shaped piece of aluminum on a manual lathe Friday as part of a competition for apprentice machinists determined to produce a precise, quality machined part as quickly as possible. “You’re trying to get the job done as fast as you...

An Irwin nonprofit that mounts programs and initiatives to help homeowners unable to maintain their properties and deal with hoarding will get money from the borough to help it land a larger grant for its joint projects. Fight the Blight Inc. won unanimous approval from Irwin Borough Council on Wednesday...

Irwin’s police chief is seeking money to purchase six body cameras for the department’s police officers. “We want to make sure that our officers and the borough are protected,” Irwin police Chief Dan Wensel told borough council at a recent meeting. Wensel told borough council that Axon Enterprise Inc. could...

A Penn Township author who has self-published two fictional books and is working on a third one says she loves what she is doing, even if she will not get rich from pursing her passion in writing. “I sell my books for $10. It’s not always about money. You have...

Norwin softball team to hold fundraiser The Norwin High School softball team will hold an “egg your yard” fundraiser for Easter morning for school district residents. Families will be able to wake up Easter morning on March 31 to candy-filled eggs in their yard. The team is charging $15 for...

A $22 million expansion of Arnold Palmer Regional Airport could begin by summer, the airport’s engineer said Tuesday. Bids were opened in January and contracts for the first phase of the work could be awarded by April, engineer Scott Kunselman told Westmoreland County Airport Authority board members. “The bids are...

The Norwin School District may end up paying about $20,000 to hire an executive search firm to help find a new superintendent to replace Jeff Taylor, who will leave the post at the end of the school year. School directors this week authorized its personnel committee to hire a search...

Pittsburgh-based Primanti Bros. Restaurant & Bar chain wants to use a liquor license from Mt. Pleasant at the restaurant it plans to open in North Huntingdon. The North Huntingdon Township commissioners have scheduled a public hearing for 6:30 p.m,. Feb. 21 to take comments and receive testimony about Primanti’s request...

Someone is $1.4 million richer — minus taxes — after buying what turned out to be Saturday’s winning Pennsylvania Lottery Match 6 Lotto ticket at the Par Mar store in Monessen, the Pennsylvania Lottery said. The winner’s Match 6 Lotto ticket matched all six winning numbers — 8-12-22-25-28-29. The Par...

Penn Township Zoning Hearing Board members will take a road trip to the site proposed for a natural gas compressor station. Before it makes a decision on the request for a permit, the five-­member board unanimously agreed to visit the rural site along Wilderness Road near the Murrysville border. Protect...

As Joe Dastolfo was buying a box of chocolates for his wife’s Valentine’s Day gift, he didn’t consider the price. The Hempfield resident was shopping this week at McFeely’s Gourmet Chocolate in downtown Greensburg. “I don’t care about the price,” he said. For those who do care, the wholesale price...

Something needs to be done to stop muskrat from boring holes into the dikes at a mine drainage treatment site in Mt. Pleasant Township. The holes can cause polluted water to foul Sewickley Creek, according to a member of the group that works to protect the area’s watershed. If the...

A boy was jailed after allegedly attempting to rob a woman at gunpoint in Pittsburgh’s Homewood North neighborhood on Tuesday afternoon surrendered, Pittsburgh police said. The suspect barricaded himself in a residence after an attempted armed robbery of a woman at 1 p.m. in the 7000 block of Hermitage Street,...

An area environmental organization sees Pennsylvania’s new requirement that natural gas drillers reveal the chemicals in fracking fluids earlier in the drilling process as “long overdue.” A trade group says the industry has been transparent about what it pumps into the ground. ”This gives people a chance to know what...

A Brownsville couple was jailed Tuesday for allegedly keeping a 6-year-old girl in a locked dog crate, restraining the child with plastic zip ties and beating her with a broom on multiple occasions, according to a criminal complaint filed by state police. The alleged abuse at the hands of Jacob...

Scott Mason of Greensburg was spending his Saturday morning at the Greensburg Hempfield Area Library in Greensburg, reading a 1931 book on Revolutionary War hero Arthur St. Clair for an upcoming presentation before the Greensburg Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Mason relies upon the reference books in...

Electric vehicle owners who drive to Saint Vincent College near Latrobe will soon be able to get a recharge on campus at a new solar-powered charging station. Saint Vincent College has partnered with the West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund to acquire the Smartflower Solar electric vehicle charging station powered...

A 68-year-old Latrobe man allegedly admitted to viewing child pornography on his computer that contained multiple files, including one with a girl who was sexually assaulted, according to a criminal complaint filed this week. The suspect, Dennis J. Keefe, allegedly admitted while police were searching his Miller Street residence last...

Officials have identified a man killed Friday night in a two-vehicle accident along Route 66 in Manor Township. The victim was Herbert Wagner, 76, of Worthington, according to Armstrong County Coroner Brian Myers. Myers said an autopsy will be performed Monday. Wagner was killed “when the vehicle he was driving...

Water service was restored Friday afternoon to residents of the 272-unit Hempfield Towers after a line break had shut off water since early Thursday morning, a housing authority official said. The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County had repaired a waterline break near the building and had the water service restored...

Spirit Airlines will resume its daily seasonal flights from Arnold Palmer Regional Airport near Latrobe to Myrtle Beach, S.C., on April 10, the airlines said . The non-stop seasonal flight connecting Westmoreland County’s lone airport to Myrtle Beach International Airport at the beach resort community is resuming about one month...

As Zane Yanosko recuperated Thursday in a Pittsburgh hospital room from surgery to attack cancer in his lungs, the Norwin-area community rallied behind the 25-year-old assistant lacrosse coach. Yanosko of North Huntingdon underwent surgery this week to remove cancerous nodules in one of his lungs, according to his mother, Kathy...

St. Stephen Byzantine Church to sell soup, pirohi St. Stephen Byzantine Catholic Church at 90 Bethel Church Rd., North Huntingdon, will hold its first Lenten sale of homemade soups and haluski every Friday, beginning Feb. 16 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. A 12-ounce container of soup is $5, as...